EA responds to Madden 06/PSP controversy

[mille.mots]

Electronic Arts (http://www.ea.com) is attempting to defend against the growing blitz of bad press about the lockup/shutdown issues (http://www.evilavatar.com/forums/showthread.php?t=5754) plaguing "Madden 06" on the PSP. First, they have added a FAQ entry (http://support.ea.com/cgi-bin/ea.cfg/php/enduser/std_adp.php?p_faqid=10939) claiming that they are aware of the problem affecting a 'group of users,' yet the majority of owners have no problems at all. Secondly, the response in the official EA Madden 06 for PSP forums (http://forums.easports.com/mboards/forum.jspa?forumID=44) has firmed up with the addition of a second EA rep. Lastly, reports are that telephone support is now acknowledging the problem. But, is that enough?

[mille.mots]

Allegedly, Customer Support is telling callers that the reason online play is a non-starter is because online play is in a ‘test phase.’ (http://forums.easports.com/mboards/thread.jspa?threadID=6329&messageID=41127ꂧ) This would be merely laughable if online support wasn’t telling users clamoring for help that ”There are literally tens of thousands of successful games played every day.” (http://forums.easports.com/mboards/thread.jspa?threadID=6184&messageID=39819鮋) Savvy players have noted that a vanishingly small number of participants on the server have even a single win…so where are those ‘fives of thousands’ winners every day?

Meanwhile, downfield, we have a technical foul, as support tells customers who are unable to access their accounts that the problem is due to their memory card. (http://forums.easports.com/mboards/thread.jspa?threadID=5438&messageID=40367鶯) Which makes perfect sense, I’m sure, in the world of EA.

I’m obviously not an EA fanboi, although I’ve been playing the Madden series since the premier on the Genesis (disclaimer: I flirted with the ESPN series, too, but it wasn’t serious). On the other hand, I’m also not one of those calling for a class action lawsuit (yes, there was an attempt on the EA board to do so…it was summarily deleted by the mods, and ‘posting rules’ immediately adopted). I say, let us wait and see how this plays out. As we head into what is surely only the half-time show for this game, rest assured that EA will provide satisfaction for their customers. Depending on the definition of satisfaction, (http://forums.easports.com/mboards/thread.jspa?threadID=6294&messageID=41299ꅓ) that is. As SonOfPapi, a poster on the EA board, observed, ‘What a great concept; what a bungled execution.’ Spot on.

MM

[Taco]

Interesting stuff.

7 points for the posts mille ;).

[IagoTheHunted]

my 2cents: Meh... buyer beware, they fucked up, so don't buy the game. Nuf said :P

[Taco]

But the fact they are trying to minimize something so vast and obvious is worth noting and something to follow. I can't imagine how anything other than owning up to their fuckups would work.

I mean how is it remotely possible that the majority of owners are having no issue at all? Is it in actuality 100% of the owners or am I being misled?

[mister_slim]

I've really been getting the feeling recently that EA doesn't care in the slightest about their handheld games. Goldeneye DS was idiotically implemented, as was Tiger Woods. The yearly iteration system only works when they start from a adequate product, apparently.

[Ernst_Jager]

EA in general doesn't care about their games. I think they just want to push them out as fast as they can and hope they can reap as much money as they can. I remember back in the day the hardest part of playing a game was getting it to play in DOS (damn HIMEM.sys) Now days almost every game is full of bugs and requires multiple patches or updates before it is playable.

[trip1eX]

Good to see it's not just the DS version that's a broken piece of sht.

[DCJoeDog]

EA stop giving a shit the moment they got exclusivity for the NFL, 'nuff said.

[Taco]

If EA wasn't behind Battlefield2 I would have purchased it by now. I'm not going to say I am boycotting them, but unless they release a PC game that blows everything away I'm not even looking in their direction.

[MusicToEat]

They had to get all that money for exclusivity from somewhere, looks like they got it from the QA department.

[omnithrope]

Once again, EA keeps their perfect record of douchebaggery.

[Magnanimous Gnome]

This game costs $50????

Great, thanks PSP for ushering in the era of $50 portable games. I thought 40 dollar games on the GBA and DS were bad. :rolleyes: